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Nuclear Warfare

Utilizes a “device, such as a bomb or warhead, whose great explosive power derives from the release of nuclear energy.” (2) Nuclear weapons are powered by atomic energy, rather than by a chemical processes. (3) “Nuclear weapons produce large explosions and hazardous radioactive by products by means of either nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Nuclear weapons can be delivered by artillery, plane, ship, or ballistic missile (ICBM); some can also fit inside a suitcase. Tactical nuclear weapons can have the explosive power of a fraction of a kiloton (one kiloton equals 1,000 tons of TNT), while strategic nuclear weapons can produce thousands of kilotons of explosive force.” (3)

Primary Weapons

An atomic bomb is “an explosive weapon of great destructive power derived from the rapid release of energy in the fission of heavy atomic nuclei, as of uranium 235.” (4)

A hydrogen bomb is “an explosive weapon of enormous destructive power caused by the fusion of the nuclei of various hydrogen isotopes in the formation of helium nuclei.” (5)

“A suitcase bomb is a bomb which uses a suitcase as its delivery method. While conventional bombs can be hidden in any type of container, suitcase bombs have been threats primarily in two different contexts: conventional bombs in suitcases on airplanes (where there are many suitcases, and where even a small bomb will cause a crash), and suitcases with small nuclear weapons inside (sometimes called suitcase nukes).” (7)

The energy released from a nuclear weapon comes in four primary categories:

Blast—40-60% of total energy

Thermal radiation—30-50% of total energy

Ionizing radiation—5% of total energy

Residual radiation (fallout)—5-10% of total energy

The amount of energy released in each form depends on the design of the weapon, and the environment in which it is detonated. The residual radiation of fallout is a delayed release of energy, while the other three forms of energy release are immediate. (8)

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